


In the End

by cryingaggressively



Category: Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Genre: 5 Things, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Developing Friendships, F/M, Gen, So beware, all the fluff tho, also Darcy's social ineptness and Lizzie's Lizzieness, and a Jing baby, still not over the fact that those two never got screen time together, super old, this practically is gen but it has the bad bad three letter word starting with s in it, this stars: Jane's kindness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-10-15 05:40:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10551010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cryingaggressively/pseuds/cryingaggressively
Summary: Or, five opinions Jane Bennet has about William Darcy during their acquaintance and the one she keeps in the end.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!  
> This is my first fic on AO3, but it's pretty old (2013 I think?). I'm not a native English-speaker, so any awkwardness in the wording can conveniently be blamed on that :D I'm happy to receive advice though, so feel free to point out any mistakes! Hope you enjoy!

1\. She's probably the first one to think well of him, at the Gibson wedding. He spends the whole evening 'lurking' in the corner, as Lizzie says, but as Bing twirls her around, the only thing she catches is a brief image of a lonely face.

During their stay at Netherfield that impression only gets stronger with time. She watches his awkward conversations with her sister. And that's the point, she thinks, as Lizzie and Darcy discuss Tolstoy; he's _awkward_ , but certainly not _malicious_.

 

2\. A few months later – she is in LA and still a bit hung up about Bing – she manages to watch Lizzie's latest videos. Fitz and Lizzie packing her care package, Fitz and Lizzie answering questions, Fitz and Lizzie talking about Darcy. And her and Bing. (She is angry and disappointed, at him for breaking them up, at Bing, for being so easily persuaded and at herself, for trusting both of them.)

She decides to watch the next videos as well, when she sees Darcy in two of them. She's kind of satisfied as Lizzie turns him down – he'd made Bing turn _her_ down, too, after all – but ashamed the next second. Because after all that he's done, the pain of being rejected is still too fresh in her mind (and her heart) to even consider wishing that upon him. If she wasn't so upset, she probably wouldn't have thought about it at all.

 

3\. When she sees Lizzie on Thanksgiving, they talk about what's happened. She expects Lizzie to bash Darcy, but she seems more thought- than resentful. She asks her what the letter says, of course, but gets no concrete answer, just some pretty vague stuff. She trusts her sister, though, and so any resentment that she _might_ have had, disappears.

 

4\. When Lizzie calls her, she panics and hurries home. She feels a little better when they see each other, at home, finally. Worry is always easier to bear with your sister by your side. Especially if the drama revolves around your other, even younger sister. When she sees Lydia though, she panics more. Not because of the tape, no, but because she looks dead inside, hollow like bird bones. George's, scratch that, _Wickham's_ actions have cut deep.

Additionally, the sex tape, that sword of Damocles, is looming over their heads. The relief she feels when the side gets taken down is nothing like finding out she's passed an exam, or that a client liked her choices for them. It's like a physical weight has been taken off her chest, like she can breathe again for the first time in weeks. Lizzie, she knows, feels the same way. Jane can read her like a book, as if Lizzie's diary entries flash over her face in neon writing just for her to see.

Lydia however still is more than heartbroken and has something of a breakdown days later. They all start to cry at that point, but after that, everything gets a little brighter.

She's not exactly surprised when Lizzie tells her that Darcy's had a hand in dealing with Wickham. She had assumed that, after seeing Lydia try to change the subject every single time Darcy came up.  
She has also seen all of Lizzie's videos by now. It's more than obvious he's still got feelings for her sister and will do anything to make her happy. At that point he rises in her esteem not only because of his help, but also because of the constancy of his feelings. They must be something very special to survive that debacle at Collins&Collins. And anybody who appreciates her little sister's intelligence, caring personality, even her humor (after _ridiculing_ him with it) _,_ has to posses some common sense and a good heart in her opinion.

 

5\. Two months later, she and Bing are together (again?) and very happy, spending most of their time in NewYork with each other. They've sorted out most of their problems and Jane thinks that maybe, just maybe, true love really does exist. Not solely because Bing moved across the country to be with her, either.

Grand gestures, Jane has come to know, are quite lovely, but a real relationship is built on the little, insignificant moments that nobody ever sees.  
Like coming home to someone who genuinely just wants to know how our day went. Cooking dinner together, frustrated and tired from a day's work one moment, the next lying on the kitchen floor and laughing with tears in your eyes because your boyfriend crafted you a chef's hat out of newspaper.  
(She had gone to their bedroom to take a call from a client, and when she'd come back, Bing had been sitting among a shredded newspaper and a stapler, beaming and handing her a hat he called 'couture de Bing, for the real chefs'.) Lizzie comes from San Francisco for a visit one weekend, 'making sure he's treating you ridiculously well!'. (He is.)

To her huge surprise (well, not so much) Darcy even comes to most of the family dinners in the Bennet household. She knows they spend a lot of time together, as Lizzie is building her company in San Francisco.

But she's not so sure how their relationship has developed until she hears them whispering in the hallway.

She can't recall _anyone_ calling Darcy 'Will' in the entire time she's known him. And she's never seen him being kissed by her baby sister either (which, by the way, is the moment she decides to subtly duck into the kitchen again).

One thing does surprise her, though: Another month later, he comes to visit her in New York without Lizzie.

She invites him in and is generally pleased to see him, if perhaps a bit confused; Bing is visiting his parents and she assumed Darcy (William?) would know.

He starts talking after two semi-uncomfortable minutes. After his little speech, she's got the wish to hug him. He's come to apologize for doubting her personality, for interfering and for the pain he's caused her. When she tells him that he's been forgiven around the time of THE SEXTAPE DRAMA (named that way by Lydia, because she 'ain't gonna tiptoe around it anymore'), he smiles at her. Genuinely. That is the moment she tells past-Lizzie 'I told you so!' in her head. It's also the moment she and William Darcy become friends.

 

5.2. "As much as I love my nephew, Jane, I'm pretty sure _I_ would be slamming my head against the wall by now."

Jane laughs. She can picture that pretty well. Neither Bing nor Lizzie possesses the patience to play that game longer than five minutes.

"Seriously. That man's got nerves like steel. That battle of wills has been going on for over half an hour now. I'm not even sure which of them will give in first. Is that the way it's going to end with him? Playing –"

Her sister gets interrupted at that point. Her brother-in-law's talking with his hands over his eyes. "Lizzie. I'm playing peek-a-boo with a toddler. Don't _dramatize_ it."

As expected, the reference gets to her. "Well, now that you mention it, I'm actually more surprised that you're sitting on the ground. _It's so uncivilized_!"

Jane doesn't want to tease him. It's sweet of him to take over. (She loves her son _so much_ , but yesterday she's played that game for four hours. She's grateful for a break.)

But even she can't help but laugh as Darcy mumbles "touché" under his breath, hands still over his eyes.

In the evening, when she sits down next to William (now seated on a much more dignified chair), Jane smiles. Lizzie and Bing are laughing about something, her son is sleeping upstairs. Her attention is drawn to the small bump on her sister's belly once again. She wonders when they'll tell everyone, but doesn't mind the wait. After her own pregnancy, she empathizes with their wish to keep it secret for as long as possible. Because their mother… Well, she does only want what's best for them. And for her self-predicted 7.5 grandbabies.

In general, though, life's good.

Darcy looks up, meets her eyes and returns the smile.


End file.
